Audio
by 0000x0000
Summary: Naomi struggles with her rape and feels detached from Silver when she's asked to write a story for The Blaze asssigned specifically to her from MR, Cannon. But Silver discovers something that could end Mr. Cannon's career and ultimately help Naomi!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **I still don't own 9O21O, it's characters or storylines. I'm merely an FF writer.

**NOTES:** Rated T for mentions of rape, language and _some _violence. _**Bold/Italic **_font is a flashback.

* * *

Audio

_**But no animal is as brutal as the homosapian.**_

"_**Anyway it goes on and on and on like that." He chuckled half nervously as he clicked off the documentary.**_

"_**Well it's a really great project." Naomi said almost feeling comfortable with him. Things were still awkward since the sexual harassment ordeal, but she thought maybe now they could move on and just have a normal teacher-student relationship. "You're really talented."**_

"_**You're just saying that."**_

"_**No, I mean it." She said with a sincere smile.**_

_**Mr. Cannon eyed the girl, looking stunning in her red dress, "Thank you." He leaned forward, placing his hand on her own that was set in her lap pulling it towards him, as he held it gently. "That means a lot." Naomi glanced down nervously, trying to keep her cool. "You don't mind me holding your hand do you?" He asked glancing up her torso to her eyes.**_

_**Naomi, looked down at their hands. "No..that's, no it's fine." She half shrugged, offering a semi-nervous smile. She glanced around the room, already regretting being there, "But I should probably call Triple A, so they ca-"**_

_**Before Naomi could stand up, Mr Cannon grabbed her face pulling her in for a kiss. She wriggled away and stood up. "Mr. Cannon? What the hell?"**_

"Naomi.."

_**He pushed her up against the desk, holding her tight in his arms. "Stop!" She cried. "Stop, or I will tell!"**_

"Naomi...!"

"_**Who you gonna tell? Huh! You're the girl who cried wolf."**_

"Naomi!"

"Huh what?" Naomi jumped and sat straight up. She glanced around the room and saw Silver sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her with eyebrows kinked in confusion.

"You okay?" asked her best friend with genuine concern. "You're all shaky and sweaty.."

Naomi ran a hand over her face and shook her head. "Huh, yeah, no I'm.. I'm good." She worked on catching her breath and finally looked back at Silver. "What are you doing here?"

Silver tilted her head in confusion. "You told me to meet you at your house so we could go to school together?" She narrowed her eyes and eyed Naomi. "Remember, you said you wanted to 'make sure our outfits compliment each others for the first day of senior year'?" She said with exaggerated air quotes.

It all came rushing back to Naomi. She'd said that one day when Silver again, asked Naomi if she was alright. Everyday that summer it seemed, she was proving her well-being to Silver, even though it was a bold-faced lie. She had been raped. She was _not _okay. "Oh, right! Right! How could I forget?" She exclaimed putting on her tough exterior. "Let me go take a shower and then you get to help me pick out the perfect outfit!" Silver groaned and laid down on the bed as Naomi hopped out and into her en-suite bathroom.

"Great!" She said in her usual sarcastic tone.

"You didn't have to remind me you know?" Naomi called from the bathroom.

"Silly me," laughed Silver.

* * *

The two girls walked into West Beverly Hills High School for the first day of their last year. They walked to Silver's locker and Naomi used her mirror to check her lip gloss, not like she wanted to grab any guy's attention, in fact that was the very last thing she wanted. Silver glanced over Naomi's sh

oulder and saw Navid in the Media Lab, trying to recruit new _Blaze _members. "Morning ladies."

The sharp accent chilled Naomi down to her very core and she slowly turned around and found herself staring at him. At Mr. Cannon.

"Hey Mr. Cannon." Silver said politely.

"Naomi," he said with a slight nod.

She struggled to find her voice and finally managed. "H-hi.. Mr. Cannon.."

He grinned almost evilly and headed towards the Media Lab. Silver looked over at Naomi. "Nay, I'm sure he's over it by now. I mean you apologized. There's no reason for it to be awkward anymore."

_If only you knew Silver. _"Right, I know." She slammed Silver's locker. "I'm gonna go try to find Liam." And before Silver could protest Naomi strode down the hallway, with no intention of finding her ex-boyfriend. Instead she walked into the bathroom, and worked on catching her breath.

* * *

Silver sat on the couch in the Media Lab, taking notes as Mr. Cannon talked about plans for the new year. She periodically glanced at Navid who was silently (still) cursing the fact that Mr. Cannon was required to be there. She let out a soft subtle, laugh and continued scribbling down Cannon's ideas. When the last bell rang, everyone gathered their things and headed for the door.

"Miss Silver."

Silver stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the faculty adviser. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if I could have a word with you?"

"Uh, yeah sure.." She stepped back inside the Media Lab sitting down at a desk. "What's up?"

Mr. Cannon sat on the desk close to her. "I have a proposition for you."

"Uhm, okay.."

"Navid does a great job here.. with the editing aspect." He stated. "But, I was wondering if you'd be willing to be junior editor?"

Silver's eyes widened a little at Mr Cannon's words and her mouth gaped open slightly. "Uh-"

"You'd get first pick at all stories and you'd have full control over how the stories are spun."

"Wow, seriously?"

"You're a talented journalist, Silver. You minimize all the fluff and write passionately. You tell the viewers what they need to know. It's fantastic, for someone your age."

She was at a loss for words. The format for stories were so restrictive and there was really no room for creativity or opinion. Finally she managed a nod. "Yeah.. Yes! I'd love to." She smiled softly. "Thank you, very much."

"You're very welcome." He looked the girl up and down, grinning to himself. A grin that mimicked one he'd had on his face almost three months before.


	2. Chapter 2

For the next month Silver took the reins on her new duties given to her by Mr. Cannon, executing the stories and reports with a high degree of efficiency and creativity. Naomi had been extremely distant, she was finding it hard to keep up her normally confident exterior, and the fact that her best friend was working so close to the man who raped her, she felt trapped. She had no one to talk to. So she stayed home from school. It's not like there was anyone around to tell her to go. She'd lost all will to argue with her sister anymore, who was now gigantically pregnant (another thing Naomi still couldn't wrap her mind around). Retail therapy, was no longer an option since Jen had taken all her credit cards and Naomi wouldn't dare eat her feelings. She may be scarred and damaged but she was not going to be scarred, damaged _and _fat. Naomi laid on the couch staring blankly at the television, as it flashed images and clips of Shamwows and Chairlifts. Yes, her life had reduced to watching informercials. _This is pathetic _she thought to herself. But still, there she laid.

A knock on the front door caused the girl to jump and rolled off the couch walking slowly to the foyer. She glanced through the peephole and saw her best friend standing on the porch. Naomi breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door. "Hey."

Silver eyed Naomi. She looked exhausted, hurt, confused. Something was up. "Hey. Where've you been?" She asked carefully. "You haven't been at school in almost two weeks.."

Naomi leaned against the doorframe and shrugged, conjuring up a quick lie. "I had the most wicked cramps in my life last week and this week, I just needed some me time."

"Nay.."

"What?"

"You and I both know that's not what's going on.." Silver looked at her best friend. "Is it because of Liam?"

Naomi was taken aback and she shook her head quickly, scoffing. "God, no!" Although she wished it was. "No. I mean I miss him, but no."

"Then what is it Nay?" Silver shook her head, eyes narrowed in worry and confusion. "You don't come to school, you're distant. All summer you pretty well stayed in the house and yo-"

"Silver..."

Naomi rolled her eyes and listened as Silver continued to list the things Naomi did and didn't do. She sighed and finally snapped grabbing the girls shoulders firmly but gently. "Silver!"

"What?"

"Listen to me and listen close." She widened her eyes and spoke slowly. "I. Am. Fine! Capisce?"

Silver looked into Naomi's eyes, tilting her head to the side. Finally she sighed. "Okay." She nodded. "Okay, fine."

"Thank you." She let go of Silver's shoulders.

"But you have to promise me something.."

"What's that?"

"Promise me, you will tell me when you're not fine."

Naomi stared at Silver and simply nodded. She'd already broken the promise time and time again. "Promise." She said softly.

Silver leaned forward and embraced her friend. Naomi, bit down on her lip to keep from crying. It was the first time she'd felt safe in a very very long time.

* * *

"Miss Silver" Mr Cannon called out as the final bell rang.

Silver was instantly at his desk. "What's up?"

Mr Cannon strode from behind his desk and leaned against it, crossing his legs and folding his arms. "I have something I want you to do for me."

"Okay." She nodded and took out her notebook.

He placed a hand on her hand that was holding the notebook and pushed it down gently. "No, no. You won't be needing that."

Silver cautiously put her notebook back in her bag and folded her arms. "Uhm.. o-okay.. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could get you to edit my documentary. You know make sure the clips are where they're supposed to be, make sure the audio lines up. See if there's anything I should fix, change, add, get rid of."

"Uhm, well Navid's actually really good at the kinda stuff. I mean I'm sure he'd be able to do a way better job."

"Silver. If I wanted Navid to do it I would've asked him. Besides I think this needs a.." He paused and looked Silver up and down. "A woman's touch."

She took a step back, as her eyes darted around his face. Silver bit down on her lip. _Why is he so creepy? _"Okay.. Yeah, I guess I could do it."

"Great." He said clapping his hands together. "I'll bring over the video and audio discs tomorrow morning and you can get started."

Silver watched as Mr Cannon gathered up his belongings and made his way towards the door out into the empty halls of West Beverly. She couldn't understand why she was all of a sudden so uncomfortable around him. Maybe it was the way he touched her hand, or smooth 'women's touch." Whatever it was, she wasn't a fan. She shrugged it off, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the Media Lab.

The next day Silver sat in the Media Lab, watching the video of Mr Cannon's documentary without sound first to make sure everything was smooth. When she confirmed the sound was ready to be dubbed in, she opened the CD book he'd given her that morning. She flipped through the book until she came to the only disc marked 'audio.' She slipped it out of it's protective sheet and loaded it into the computer. Silver plugged headphones in and pressed play on the window that popped up. But what she heard, she was certain wasn't for Cannon's documentary. What she heard...

was terrifying.


	3. Chapter 3

_Stop! Stop! Or I will tell! _The unmistakable voice of her best friend. "Naomi!" Silver said out loud as if trying to warn her of impending danger. Her eyes were narrowed in terror as she listened to what was on the disc.

_Who are you gonna tell? Huh? You're the girl who cried wolf! _The sharp English accent, cut Silver's ears like a knife. "Mr.. Oh my God." What followed next made Silver's stomach churn so much that she actually thought she might be sick. Muffled screams, unstoppable crying, horrendous grunting. Silver shuddered and quickly ripped the cord from out of the computer, and tore the headphones off her head. She took a minute to catch her breath and wrap her head around what she'd just heard.

Naomi Clark. The Queen of West Beverly. Silver's best friend since the third grade, was raped. By Mr Cannon. Someone who made himself out to be an English gentleman. Someone who appeared to be truly hurt by the false sexual harassment accusations made by Naomi. Someone Silver trusted and at one point had looked up to. She put her head in her heads and closed her eyes tight. When she reopened them she took a deep breath and stood up, shakily.

She had to tell someone. But who? Silver checked the date stamp on the audio and saw it was the night of the Torch Passing Ceremony. _Mr Matthews. _He was at the ceremony, and everyone had heard rumors that he'd stolen a shuttle bus to get back to the school. Maybe he'd seen something, assuming he could remember anything. Silver gathered up her things, took the CD out of the computer and clutched it tightly in her hand. She made her way through the halls of West Beverly, searching desperately for Matthews. As she walked she pulled out her phone and hit 3, Naomi's speed dial number on her Sidekick. She cradled her phone between her shoulder and her ear. "Come on Nay, pick up." She said to herself. Silver's heart sank when Naomi's voicemail kicked in and she listened to the voice. The voice that was confident and unafraid, nothing like what she'd heard on the audio clip.

"Hey, you've reached Naomi Clark. I'm off doing something fabulous, so leave me a message and I'll for sure to get back to you...If I like you that is. Ciao!" The phone beeped and Silver braced herself for the message.

"Nay. It's me. I.. I know what happened. With Mr Cannon. I know what he did to you. He must've accidentally left a mic on in his office or something cause, he gave me a CD for his documentary.. it .." She shook her head in disgust and continued. "God, Nay I am so sorry.. I don't even know what to say but, I'm gonna do everything I can to help you.. I have evid-"

Silver's phone and the CD clattered to the ground as she ran right into someone coming from the opposite direction. "Ah, I'm so sorry." She scrambled to bend down and pick up her phone, but the person in front of her kicked it away and grabbed her wrist of the hand that was picking up the CD. Silver's heart stopped and she cautiously lifted her head.

She found herself face to face with Mr Cannon.

* * *

****AUTHOR'S NOTES:** So I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, well, no I don't but I guess I'll explain it. My last chapter had a cliffhanger, and it got some pretty great reviews. So here's another. And don't worry I'm not going to make you wait as long for Chapter 4, it is being written as we speak, or type I suppose.


	4. Chapter 4

Silver stood up slowly, Mr Cannon's hand still gripped firmly around her thin wrist, her blue eyes glistening with fear as she stared at his hand. "Done already?" He asked her unpleasantly.

She tried to subtly tug her wrist from his grasp, which only made him grip her tighter. "Uh-uhm. No I was just.."

"Just what?" He jerked her wrist towards him, causing Silver to gasp in pain, and he snatched the CD out of her hand. "Helping your little friend spread more lies about me?" He said waving the disc in front of her face.

She shook her head quickly, clenching her teeth, as she looked him up and down. "I know what you did to her, you disgusting prick!"

A sharp pain shot through her cheek as Mr Cannon's free hand slapped her. "It'd be in your best interest to watch your mouth young lady." He said, as he tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear. Silver jerked her head back, and eyed him cautiously. She tried her hardest not to show her fear but it was becoming increasingly harder to do so now that he was getting violent.

"You're not gonna get away with this." She shook her head.

"I think I already have." He grinned. "It's been almost four months, and Naomi hasn't said a word to anyone, and all you have to go on is a piece of plastic." He said holding up the disc.  
"One crack, even a scratch could erase all the contents on this. And then who would believe you?"

Silver eyed the disc, then looked back at Mr Cannon. She tried to snatch it from his hand , but he simply grabbed both of her wrists in one hand. He let the disc hit the floor and proceeded to step on it forcefully, causing it break into five seperate pieces.

"Oops. Clumsy me." He said grinning wickedly. "You were right. I should have just asked Navid for help." He threw her wrists down aggressively, revealing bruises that were already starting to form. "Now what am I going to do with you..?"

But before Silver could find out, she took off down the hallway, grabbing her phone off the floor in one fluid motion. She wasn't athletic, but her long legs made it easy for her to sprint down the hallway. She could hear him behind her picking up speed as he chased her through the halls of West Bev. She checked over her shoulder to see how close he was and when she turned back around, she clipped her sister's shoulder.

"Silver!" Kelly exclaimed as she grabbed Silver's arm gently but firmly. "What on earth are you doi-" She stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened in fear and worry. "Silver what happened to you?" She touched her baby sister's cheek gently and ran her fingers over a bruise that was forming under her eye.

Before she could answer, Mr Cannon turned the corner, nearly running into the two sisters. "Mr Cannon?" Kelly said, her arm wrapped protectively around Silver. "What's going on?"

"Your sister was running in the halls so.."

"You were running after her, to what? Tell her to stop?"

Silver turned her head toward Kelly but kept her eyes on Mr Cannon. "He was chasing after me so I wouldn't tell anyone.."

Kelly looked at Silver and narrowed her eyes. "Tell anyone what?"

"Miss Silver.." Mr Cannon warned.

"That he raped Naomi." She said firmly. She wasn't afraid of him anymore, Kelly made her feel safe and invincible. Mr Cannon hurt her best friend. He humiliated her, violated her. He abused her.

The color drained from Kelly's face as she heard the words that came out of her sister's mouth. "Wh-what?" She looked towards Mr. Cannon. "Is this true?"

He scoffed and shook his head. "The girls won't let the sexual harassment ordeal go, Ms Taylor. They're simply looking to cause a ruckus."

"Silver!" The three of them turned to see Navid rushing towards them. "Silver, hey. Uh.." He looked at Mr Cannon in both disgust and fear. "Can I uh, talk to you for a minute?" He said turning back to Silver. "It's really important."

"She can't right now Mr Shirazi." Mr Cannon said, eying Silver.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Excuse me? If you'd like to remain chief editor on The Blaze I suggest yo-"

"You raped Naomi Clark. You're a sick, sick bastard you know that?"

Kelly looked from Navid to Mr Cannon in shock. "Is it true?"

"They're lying Kelly."

"No no I have proof."

"What? How?" Silver asked.

"When you went for lunch today I went into the Media Lab to get a flash drive and I saw the discs lying on the table. I figured I'd burn them all to the hard drive in case you didn't finish or whatever. Anyway, I came back after school to print a set plan. I wanted to see what Cannon had you working on, so I clicked on one of the files I burned. And that's when I heard it." He said giving a look of disgust to Mr Cannon.

Kelly looked over at Navid. "Heard what?"

"He left a mic on in his office when he raped her. We thought it was audio for his documentary." Silver said shakily.

"Thats a lie!" Mr Cannon exclaimed.

But moments later, LAPD officers stepped behind Mr Cannon. "Miles Cannon?"

Mr Cannon whipped around. "What?"

The officer slapped cuffs on his right wrist and turned him around to cuff the other. "I'm officer Blake from the LAPD. You're under arrest for the rape of Naomi Clark. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided for you under Legal Aid."

Navid, Kelly and Silver watched as the officers dragged Mr Cannon out of the school. Kelly sighed in confusion and turned her attention to Silver. "Are you okay?"

Silver nodded. "I'll be fine.." She took a breath and looked over at Navid. "Thank you."

"No problem." He said with a nod.

"Well, I'm gonna go call the board, let them know whats going on. Then I'll take you home." Kelly said.

"Actually.." Silver said, "I'm gonna go see Naomi.. if that's okay?"

Kelly gave her sister a small nod and touched her shoulder. "Of course."

Silver smiled sadly at Kelly then looked at Navid. "I'll see you later?"

Navid nodded. "You bet. Good job."

"You too."

Silver turned and walked down the hallway out to the parking lot. She put on her helmet, slipped her RayBans on and hopped on her baby blue Vespa. She rode out of the parking lot and soon she was on the highway, headed for Naomi's house.


	5. Chapter 5

Silver peeled into Naomi's driveway and saw her best friend exiting her beat up car her sister was forcing her to drive. Naomi stopped and stared at the ground, studying the interlocking stones on her driveway. She knew why Silver was here.

As she turned off the Vespa, Silver stepped off and took her glasses off along with her helmet. Cautiously she stepped over to Naomi and frowned, but before she could say anything, Naomi spoke.

"Navid called.." Naomi paused, and pushed a tiny pebble around with the edge of her flip flop. "I just got back from the police station."

Silver noted the hurt and fear in her best friend's voice and it made her stomach drop. "Nay, that's good. That's so good. I mean it doesn't change what he did, but now he's gone for good." She spoke softly and carefully.

"I'm sorry for not telling you."

Deciding she'd been cautious enough, Silver stepped forward and wrapped Naomi in a tight hug. "Don't you dare apologize" Naomi met Silver's embrace and hugged her best friend back, shutting her eyes tight. After a few moments Silver gently grabbed Naomi's shoulders and looked into her tear-filled eyes, that her own eyes almost began to mimic. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Absolutely nothing…There is no adjective in the English language to describe how absolutely despicable that man is. And what he did to you.." She shuddered. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Naomi looked down between them again, studying her driveway. Silver let go of her shoulders and looked down also, but only for a second. "If anything, _I'm _the one who should be sorry."

This caught Naomi's attention and she looked up at her friend. "Wha-what? Why?"

"For the way I treated you. Like nothing was different-"

"Nothing _was _different. Silver you didn't know. No one did. And honestly, that's more than I could've ever asked for from you. When I said I was fine, you didn't press for information. You let it go. You treated me like everything was normal. And that's what I wanted. I wanted to feel normal. Or close to normal. I didn't want to think about…" She took a breath and exhaled sharply. "So thank you."

"You are more than welcome." She shrugged. "Anything, I can do for you, just please, let me know.."

"Just, don't act any different. Please."

Silver nodded her head slowly, and smiled sadly. "Okay."

"Oh, and I already told Navid not to tell anyone, but if you could maybe.."

She shook her head and clichély pretended to zip her lips. "It's not my story to tell." She said with a small nod. "Whenever you're ready."

Naomi gave an appreciative nod and shrugged. "Well I figured I'd start with a therapist… I don't know since it's been almost four months…I have my first appointment tomorrow."

"Nay, that's great." Silver said sincerely.

"I was wondering if.. I don't know, maybe you could…possibly, drive me there?" She shrugged. "And, and maybe stay..?"

Silver nodded instantly. "Of course Nay, anything." She offered a small sympathetic smile, to which Naomi gave a small appreciative one.

Naomi wiped her eyes quickly and let out a huff, "Well. I am going to redo my makeup and you and I are going out for some FroYo." Naomi said almost as confidently as ever.

She couldn't help but smile, as Silver watched Naomi turn on her heel and head into the house. She may have been bruised and broken, humiliated and violated, but one thing was sure;

Nothing could keep Naomi Clark down for long.

* * *

****AUTHORS NOTES** **So here it is, as promised. I know it's short, but I figured the story was slowly coming to a close anyway in the last chapter. Now, here's the thing; If this chapter/entire story gets some more reviews in the next little while, I _may _add one more chapter about Naomi's first therapy session. But again, that will all depend on your thoughts and opinions. So for now, I hope you enjoyed it. :)

Follow me on _**Twitter**_ for more updates on my stories, life, etc.  
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